The Nest

I’m here! After a very long journey where not much sleep was had I arrived in the dinky airport of Ndola where Dan and Mary, my hosts for the extent of the stay, picked me up. It was strange, because even though I’m in a completely different country, It still reminds me of my childhood home in South Africa. And the hint of familiarity is comforting.

On my first full day in Mkushi, which is a 3 hour drive from the airport, Dan and the kids (Olivia and Simeon) give me a tour of the Nest. It’s the affectionate name given to a group of 3 buildings that the Vissani family call home and open up to people like me who come and volunteer for Foundations Zambia.

The building to the left is where the kitchen, dining and living rooms are. The middle one is where Dan, Mary and the kids sleep and the one to the right is where I sleep! The Vissani’s have done an amazing job at making the Nest a warm and homely place. They built verandah’s, put down stepping stones, created paths and even built a little lookout space on one of the abandoned termite hills.

They also have a vegetable patch, a small piece of land for crops and they have chickens and a rooster (who lets us know of his existence at around 4am each morning!) There is a river that runs down the bottom of the Nest where there is a pump which provides us with the water we need. The water is then filtered so we can drink it. And a solar panel provides heat so we can have warm showers. And there is another solar panel which provides electricity. I hadn’t known what to expect but this is an amazing place to stay.

Here are Olivia and Simeon showing off the water pump.

The water gets pumped up to this water tank.

Here is one of the solar panels.

The next day Olivia and I went out to take a few more photos and here are a few of them.